The former head of Swimming Australia has told a royal commission part of him wanted to bin a job application from high profile coach Scott Volkers, even as he accepted legal advice he could be hired.
Mr Volkers - the former coach of Olympian Susie O'Neill - was charged in 2002 amid accusations he sexually abused girls in the 1980s and 1990s.
The charges were subsequently dropped.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is examining how Swimming Australia and other sports and government bodies handled the accusations.
Former Swimming Australia CEO Glenn Tasker on Wednesday was asked how he reacted to Mr Volkers' application in September 2002 for the role of women's head coach - six months after the charges were laid.
"Part of me wanted to throw it in the bin," Mr Tasker said.
"But there was, you know, a panel set up to review the applications and so it was sent to the high-performance committee for processing."
Mr Tasker said he discussed the allegations with Mr Volkers - who strenuously denied them.
However he did not talk to Mr Volkers' accusers because he didn't know he could.
Commission chair Justice Peter McClellen pointed out that a magistrate had ruled there was a prima facie case for Mr Volkers to answer before the Queensland DPP decided to drop the charges.
"Very serious allegations had been made against him; a prima facie case had been found against him, and you chose to accept his denial and nothing more was done," Justice McClellen said.
"I have to concede that," Mr Tasker replied.
A 2005 complaint against Mr Volkers by a member of the national swim team left Mr Tasker feeling horrified, he said.
A Crime and Misconduct commission report that was critical of the handling of Volkers' case also left Mr Tasker with a "sense of disquiet".
He told the commission that after restructuring Swimming Australia's high-performance program after the 2004 Mare Nostrum series, managers were told not to use Mr Volkers in any Swimming Australia activities.
"You must have been significantly concerned about Mr Volkers' conduct," council assisting Caroline Spruce asked.
"I would suggest that I was always concerned about his conduct," Mr Tasker replied.
"By 2005, our high-performance program had been restructured again and he was effectively out of the system."
In his statement to the commission, Mr Tasker said he didn't like the former head coach personally.
"I found him arrogant and I just don't like arrogant people," Mr Tasker said.
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